Bound Volumes, Hometown History

November 28, 2024

70 YEARS AGO

Last week in New York, three youths were arrested on charges of being narcotic wholesalers for one-third of Harlem. Police estimate that the ring of three youths and their minor peddlers were realizing from $2,000 to $3,000 in profits daily. Marijuana comes from the Indian hemp plant—an inoffensive looking weed, which can be grown unnoticed in any state in the Union. The tremendous profit motive encourages get-rich-quick opportunists to trade in illicit drugs. One of the largest groups which fall prey to these dope pushers are young people from all economic strata who are experimenting with the dangers and excitements of life. It may be an acceptance of a dare, or a futile and childish attempt by a boy to prove he is a man, but the result is a tragic, bitter addiction. Crimes committed in the wake of drug addiction range from shoplifting to murder. Narcotics are always expensive and to obtain money for them, an addict will risk his life or take another’s. There are both state and federal laws covering narcotics. Some states levy more strenuous penalties than others. Officers of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics assert that this nation cannot be effectively rid of the narcotic menace until all states pass equally severe legislation.

November 1954